Many organizations implement data loss prevention (DLP) systems to identify and control access to sensitive data. Typical DLP systems protect sensitive data through deep content inspection and analysis, which includes describing technology and fingerprinting technology. Describing technology protects sensitive data by identifying matches to keywords, expressions or patterns, and file types, and by performing other signature-based detection techniques. Fingerprinting technology protects sensitive data by identifying exact matches to whole or partial files. When sensitive data is identified, it can be addressed according to DLP policies.
The availability of corporate email and organization data on mobile devices has influenced business immensely. The adoption of smartphones and tablets, such as the iPad™ in an enterprise raises challenges for information technology (IT) professionals. Corporate data that is used to exist within enterprise perimeter is now being easily carried in an employee's pocket or bag. While the proliferation of mobile devices in the enterprise is desirable in many ways, it also exposes sensitive data to additional threat vectors. Sensitive data from these devices can leak through multiple mediums—emails, web, ftp, wifi, 3G, etc. All of these factors together have posed multiple challenges to IT experts and made their job of securing corporate data more difficult.